Change benefits CHR budget

October 24, 2013

The board of directors at Community Housing & Resources (CHR) celebrated a couple of achievements at Monday's monthly meeting.

The biggest achievement is final approval of its balanced budget after executive director Kelly Collini announced switching staff health insurance to Blue Cross Blue Shield which saved the organization more than $14,600 in annual costs over the previous provider policy. Since that decision came after the September board meeting at which the budget for Fiscal Year 2013-14 was first approved. The new insurance figures necessitated a revision to the budget and approved again.

The second achievement since the last meeting is the establishment of a reserve account for Limited Equity Ownership (LEO) appreciation funds to help cover future LEO property re-buys. The account was opened with $30,000 from the proceeds of the sale of 1491 Center Street, CHR's last remaining "first sale" property, which closed on Sept. 19.

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JIM LINETTEAfter many months of red tape and qualifying, CHR closed on its final first-sale Limited Equity Ownership (LEO) property on Center Street on Sept. 19.

The third achievement was announced by board chair Richard Johnson in welcoming Lisa Bramm as the chair of the landlord tenant committee, replacing board member Robin Moran, who resigned her post last month. Bramm, a former CHR tenant employed by Royal Shell, will not fill Moran's seat on the board. She has worked with the committee for some time and is familiar with its purpose.

CHR's board approved motions on several items, including the Fiscal Year objectives, revised sponsorship policy, the agreement with the owner of the Rabbit Road property, and the executive committee's revised objectives for 2013-14 hammered out at the board retreat on Sept. 21.

Development committee chair Tim Garmager polled the board to assist with contacting potential sponsors for the second annual Mardi Gras, particularly businesses and organizations that were not sponsors for the first event last spring. The committee's goal is to raise $100,000 through all fundraising events and efforts this year after raising $75,000 last year.